Archive | Student Work

Edible Book Festival is coming up soon! To get us in the mood, Sophia N. put together a Four to Read More all about those sweets we crave.

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

When she was younger, Hudson knew she was going to become a professional figure skater. However, her parents’ divorce when she was fourteen forced her to abandon the life she dreamed of and spend the rest of her life in sadness over what she could have achieved. After baking cupcakes for her mom’s diner for a few years, Hudson gets the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue her dream. She is excited but also terrified, and it’s up to her to decide how much she badly she wants her dream and how much she is willing to sacrifice for it.

Penny and her mother move from the bustling New York city to a small, quiet town called Hog’s Hollow. The worst part? Penny’s father doesn’t come with them and Penny is also tasked with balancing work at her mom’s new cupcake shop, making new friends, and avoiding Charity, the meanest girl in Hog’s Hollow who seems to have something against Penny. Just when Penny is starting to settle in and feel at home in her new town, her parents ask her to make a decision that will change her life forever.

The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

The third book in the Wayward Children series gives us new characters and old friends. Rini drops from a land called Confectionary into a pond at the home for Wayward Children, looking for her mother Sumi. But in this world, Sumi died years before Rini was even born. Rini must somehow find a way to bring Sumi back, so Sumi can fulfill her destiny to defeat the Queen of Cakes. Despite their rule of “No quests,” a few Wayward Children join Rini on a cross-dimension trip to Confectionary, where the sea is strawberry soda and candy corn grows in fields, to resurrect their old classmate.

Twelve year old Foster has a passion for baking and hopes to someday have her own baking show. After moving into the town of Culpepper with her mom, she is invited to bake for the local coffee shop and is able to receive help to overcome one of her weaknesses: learning how to read. However, just when she and her mother begin to feel at home in their new town, their tumultuous past catches up to them and it becomes difficult for Foster to imagine pursuing her dream. Will she be able to rise above and follow her dreams?

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

Come celebrate Edible Book Festival with the library on Monday, March 26th! We’ll have trivia, games, puzzles, a raffle with an amazing prize, and most importantly, CAKE! Click on over here for more information.

TA Sophia N. ’19 spoke with Keshav Dhir, a Gunn student who founded an online literary journal for teens.

Keshav Dhir, a freshman at Gunn, is no ordinary high school student. At the age of 15, he created a free online literary journal to give middle and high school students a platform to share their writing and be inspired by the writing of other students around the country.

When he was very young, he discovered his passion for reading through J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and from then on would spend hours each day immersed in the fictional worlds of Rick Riordan, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many more. When he got a bit older, he grew curious about how authors managed to write so descriptively and transport others to their fictional worlds. After asking himself these questions, he gave writing a shot and found that he not only loved consuming written works but also creating them with his own two hands. Inspired by his favorite authors, he currently loves to read and write fantasy and sci-fi. He has also forged his own path in journalism and has interviewed people such as Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, and Steve Rasmussen, the owner of Milk Pail Market in Mountain View.

He soon reached out to a children’s publishing company to see if his work could be published, but he never gota response as to whether they would consider publishing his work. Frustrated by his experience, Keshav made it his mission to create a platform for young writers to share their work and read short stories and poems from other talented students. He founded Scribere, an online literary journal, to promote creativity in students and give them the opportunity to submit their own work for publication and receive feedback from other student writers. Scribere is growing rapidly across the Bay Area and is now sponsored by Disney, ThinkFund, Youth Service for America, and the City of Palo Alto.

However, despite his success, Keshav is no stranger to criticism and writer’s block. When faced with writer’s block, he says, “I usually take a step back and think about what I’ve written, and see how I can improve it through description or dialogue or something else. Sometimes, I will just take a break completely and wait for something new to come to me. You can’t force the creative flow; it has to come to you.” When I asked him if he had any advice for young aspiring writers, he said “Writer’s block happens, rejection happens, criticism happens. Don’t let it get you down, just keep writing! Your writing is your own, so you decide when you’re finished or how much to add, not anyone else.”

Keshav encourages aspiring writers in the Castilleja community to submit their work to Scribere, following the guidelines outlined on their website (scribere.org). He and his editorial board, which only consists of middle and high school students, will review the submission and decide whether it should be published in their journal. If not, they’ll give the author feedback on how it can be improved and invite them to resubmit. If so, they’ll reach out to the author and let them know when their work will be published.

Lexi B. ’19, our very own Aussie, takes a look at Australian magazine frankie:

frankie magazine could simply be described as Australia’s answer to the Rookie Yearbook, except it’s so much more than that. The trendy magazine consists of “design, art, photography, fashion, travel, music, craft, home, and life,” as proclaimed on the front cover, and includes a writer’s piece section containing works of unknown poets and other contributors, all-inclusive beauty tips, cute craft and home life sections, and did I mention that the entire layout of the magazine is super cute? The colorful, disposable camera-like aesthetic of the entire magazine makes it just as appealing to

read as the engaging content. Though some parts of the magazine aren’t necessarily applicable to our daily lives — unless you’ve somehow suddenly become Australian — the rest of the magazine contains information that is both necessary and fun! I always enjoy reading frankie and get super excited every time it comes to the library. Check out the latest issue of frankie in the library!

Library TA Emmeline S. ’19 tells you all about one of the new magazines we picked up:

Self-described as the “smart magazine for women” and a decided (and welcome) respite from mainstream media coverage of rumored Kardashian pregnancies and other mundane celebrity “news,” London-based Riposte magazine offers short stories, articles and interviews on topics aimed at educated women.

Issue 8 of Riposte

Started in 2013 by London-based art gallery curator Danielle Pender, Riposte is a bit of a publishing anomaly. While many other magazines and media houses are increasingly moving more content online, Riposte’s website features single topic photos and brief teasers for in-depth articles that can be accessed only via the printed bi-annual magazine (Issue 8 is currently available in the Castilleja Espinosa Library).

Riposte is not light reading, nor is it appropriate for the modest reader. Issue 8 contributors address heavy topics including racism, failures of science education on gender, motherhood, fashion and innovation. This particular issue also features semi-nude and powerfully untouched photos of breast cancer survivor Erika Hart, accompanying a candid article on real-life information gaps she encountered while being treated by her team of medical professionals. The discussion of sexuality and sexual matters are more European in their openness; however, there are no advertisements or photos of young, photoshopped models in provocative poses.

The visual aesthetic of the magazine is somewhat chaotic with varying typefaces, full page borderless photos immediately followed by distinctly bordered images, and jarring discontinuities of layout. Surprisingly, the former art-gallery curator has not stamped the magazine with a readily identifiable look-and-feel nor has she established a consistent tone or language usage embodied by some of the most prominent magazines in circulation in North America (e.g. The New Yorker). There are some well-written creative pieces–Adventure (essays) on pages 15-19–a few beautiful photos such as pages 50, 94, and 120-121, and some interesting articles–a the feature on architect/designer Farshid Moussavi on page 20 for example. However, there is a lack of flow across the issue, and the quality of the written and photographic content is inconsistent.

Lastly, while many of the women covered in the magazine are role models, many of the topics–e.g., motherhood, balancing work/life–are aimed at women at different stages of life than the average Castilleja student.

While Riposte has yet to fully mature into a consistent, high-quality publication, it is well worth scanning twice a year for insights as well as an introduction to interesting topics and women role models.

As we gear up for Halloween, why not try some stories retold from the antagonist’s point of view?

Heartless by Marissa MeyerBefore becoming a ruthless monarch, the Queen of Hearts was a no more than a young girl who dreamed of becoming the best baker in the Land of Hearts and marrying the handsome court joker. But her dreams were cut short by the expectations of her mother, the expectations that drove her to pursue romance in secret, and nothing good can ever come from that.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the Westby Gregory MaguireIs the Witch of the West truly as wicked as we think? Maguire’s retelling of the Wizard of Oz sheds light on Elphaba’s rough childhood growing up with alcoholic and endlessly jealous parents. In this version of the story, Elphaba’s hometown is controlled by a totalitarian dictator known as the Wizard of Oz and is one of the only people in her town to advocate against the mistreatment of animals.

Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli
In this unconventional retelling of Snow White, Dolce, a young girl living on an island of dwarves, is seen as a freak and a giant by everyone in her hometown, hated by everyone besides her mother. One day, she escapes her island and travels to a foreign land where she is welcomed and her height is no longer uncommon. In this new land, she falls in love with a widower and becomes a mirror-maker. However, her love of mirrors soon stirs trouble deep within her soul and she begins to see herself transform into the evil stepmother we know her as today.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Do you remember Bertha Mason, the madwoman locked in Rochester’s attic in Jane Eyre? Do you ever wonder what drove her to snarl, walk on all fours, and set Thornfield on fire? Wide Sargasso Sea tells the story of Antoinette Cosway, the young Jamaican girl forced to marry Rochester and confined to the attic of Thornfield for the rest of her life.

During Gator Gathering, the library invited community members to read books for the Hurricane Harvey Book Club. These readings are now on our YouTube channel! We hope the videos bring comfort to anyone dealing with the effects of the recent hurricanes.